Political parties not serious over creation of Chief of Defence Staff, says Antony

New Delhi, June 10 : Defence Minister AK Antony said here today that political parties have not forwarded their opinion for the creation of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), even though eight years have lapsed since the recommendation was made at the highest level.

Speaking on the sidelines of a conference of top commanders of the Integrated Defence Staff of the Army, Navy and the Air Force, the Defence Minister said that most of the political parties are still to respond with their suggestions on the issue. Antony disclosed that he had recently written to the political parties to give their views on the creation of a post of Chief of Defence Staff to enable the government to arrive at a consensus.

The Defence Minister said that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government was trying to speed up the creation of the high level post.

The Subrahmanyam Committee set up after the Kargil operations in July 1999, had recommended the creation of the post of Chief Of Defence Staff, as a single point interface between the Government and the Armed Forces.

The National Democratic alliance (NDA) Government formed the Integrated Defence Staff Headquarters in 2001 to act as the Secretariat for the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, and to work towards achieving operational integration among the three services.

However, there is still no Chief of Defence Staff.

ANI